Designing for Kids, Getting Kids Reading, Getting Organised, The Tidy Books Story

Why writing a children’s diary is great for your kid

The National Literacy Trust is encouraging everyone to buy a children’s diary or a kid’s secret journal as a gift for their youngsters. They believe writing a diary is great way for children to explore language, express themselves and build emotional resilience. So, are you still wondering what to put in the kids’ Christmas stocking this year?

Advantages of Diary Writing for Kids

With daily writing, children can practise their handwriting outside of school. And according to one report, schoolchildren who kept a kid’s diary or secret journal were nearly twice as likely to write above the expected level for their age as those who didn’t.

Children’s Diary Writing Examples

The beauty of keeping a kid’s diary is that they can write about whatever they like. It might be what they’ve done that day, how they’re feeling or their hopes and fears. This, say the NLT, gives children the chance to build emotional resilience because writing things down lets them process their thoughts and express their feelings.

Writing thoughts down is pretty handy for adults too. I have a personal notebook that I write in every evening. It’s somewhere for me to unload or reflect on what I’m immensely grateful for.

” Diary writing is a brilliant idea for children, because it helps them organise their thoughts and express themselves. ” 

Sue Townsend, author of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole

When it comes to your kids, they may need a bit of encouraging – otherwise it might feel like another task they have to do rather than something they can enjoy. A handy tip is to read your children a book where the main character writes a journal – like Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney and Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl. Younger kids could be encouraged to start keeping a children’s diary by using pictures instead of words, or writing with colourful pens and pencils.

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Perfect place for a children’s diary: the Tidy Books Bunk Bed Buddy. Photo credit: Would Like to be a Yummy Mummy  www.wouldliketobeayummymummy.com

Of course a children’s diary is personal so it’s always handy to have a secret place to keep it away from prying eyes. I love the idea of a child scribbling away in their diary then hiding it behind their favourite things on their Wooden Bunk Bed Buddy Shelf .  It’s safe in their own little territory – and it’s close at hand whenever they want to write in it.

And who knows – one day that diary might become a best-selling book!

 

Tips for Diary Writing for Kids

  • Writing a diary helps kids improve writing skills.  Schoolchildren who kept a kid’s diary or secret journal were nearly twice as likely to write above the expected level for their age as those who didn’t.
  • Children can practise their handwriting outside of school.
  • Diary writing helps kids build emotional resilience.  They can express themselves, write about the day or their hopes and fears.  to explore language and express themselves.  It even helps build emotional resilience.
  • Encourage your child to keep a diary through great authors’ examples.   Try sharing a book with your child where the main character writes a journal – like Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney and Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl
  • Even younger kids can keep a diary.  They can use pictures instead of words, or cut pictures from magazines, or write with colourful pens and pencils.
  • Give your children a secret place to hide their diary.   A diary is personal so it’s always handy to have a secret place to keep it away from prying eyes, like a Bunk Bed Buddy shelf.

 

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About Géraldine Grandidier

Géraldine is Tidy Books’ founder, designer and CEO, as well as mum to Adele and Emile. She started Tidy Books in her violin workshop because she couldn’t find a good bookcase for her kids. Now her Tidy Books bookcases and storage designs are encouraging independence and a love of reading in kids all over the world.

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